Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To cause to diminish, as in strength, value, or quality: an injury that impaired my hearing; a severe storm impairing communications.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To make worse; diminish in quantity, value, excellence, strength, or any other desirable quality; deteriorate; weaken; enfeeble: as, to impair the health or character; to impair one's fortune.
- Synonyms To lessen, decrease, reduce, injure.
- To become worse; be lessened or enfeebled; deteriorate.
- n. Diminution; decrease; loss; injury; disgrace.
- Unequal; unworthy; unjust.
- Not one of a pair; odd; unmatched.
- n. An impaired or odd thing; an article without a mate.
- n. In roulette, an odd number.
Wiktionary
- v. to weaken; to affect negatively; to have a diminishing effect on.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To make worse; to diminish in quantity, value, excellence, or strength; to deteriorate.
- v. To grow worse; to deteriorate.
- adj. obsolete Not fit or appropriate.
- n. obsolete Diminution; injury.
WordNet 3.0
- v. make worse or less effective
- v. make imperfect
Etymologies
- From Old French empeirier, from Vulgar Latin *impeiorare, from in- + Late Latin peiorare ("to make worse"), from peior ("worse"), a comparative of malus ("bad"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English empairen, from Old French empeirer, from Vulgar Latin *impēiōrāre : Latin in-, causative pref.; + Late Latin pēiōrāre, to worsen (from Latin pēior, worse). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Limits on expression impair the Chinese quality of life, mutes the ability of its political economy to secure progress, and can allow legitimate grievances to fester until they get out of control.”
“The order says that states may not "impair" or even "condition" a national bank's ability to exercise its powers.”
“We will ignore those requirements when we conclude that it will "impair" what occurs in the Executive branch.”
“Without the bankruptcy financing, the remaining critical employees will likely depart, which would "impair" WorldSpace's ability to operate the satellites and continue as a going concern, Samara said.”
The Wall Street Journal: WorldSpace Files for Bankruptcy, Listing $2.12 Billion in Debt
“Clicking through this EULA appears to allow Pinnacle to install software automatically from third parties onto your computer – software which the vendor admits may "impair" the program ( "the Software") you have just purchased, as well as "any other software on your computer which specifically depends on the Software.”
“It may kind of impair it, as well as your motor skills.”
“If the work made for hire clause were to be retroactively corrected so that it did not automatically give the commissioning party such an interest, regardless of contractual language that was intended to make such a transfer, it would "impair" the contracts that depend upon those clauses.”
“Should such a sum be issued it would be followed by a great "impair", if not utter loss of the public credit.”
Currency and Banking in the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay [excerpts]
“Still farther: If Congress be allowed to imply this power (as to a legal tender), it gains, by the political ledgerdemain of construction, the power not merely to "impair," but to violate and extinguish the obligation of contracts!”
"Cato" on constitutional "money" and legal tender. In twelve numbers from the Charleston Mercury.
“In a January report, the SEC said competition between trading platforms can "impair" investors 'ability to get the "best execution" for orders and "detract" from price transparency.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘impair’.
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GRE 2014
abate, abdicate, abase, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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@vcb.etym.prjct - SAT WORD DUMP - as ...
The words on this list SAT regulars that I haven't sorted and grouped yet. It's like my wordy holding pen. get it? holding the pen to write a word? HA! I love how lame my humor is.
iconoclast, glacial, agnostic, histrionic, treacly, contemptuous, captious, bombastic, bombast, perfidy, quiescence, sordid and 148 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abject, abjure, abscission, abscond, abstemious, abstinence, abysmal, accretion and 787 more...
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2nd part
prelude, ample, escalate, prototype, accession, acquisition, archives, zealot, indict, verdict, intimidating, timid and 454 more...
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colleen's words ii
sibilant, sundry, spindle, distaff, device, mortar, pestle, scythe, flail, thresh, frown, elementary and 495 more...
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Basic Vocaulary
censure, appease, affable, conviction, heretical, mundane, exalted, detached, paradigm, charisma, conformity, allude and 96 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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Words
fickle, redeem, disclosure, fortnight, depict, convey, scribe, affluent, commuter, defection, churn, vouch and 77 more...
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TBH targets
impairing the morals of a minor
impair, valor, discretion, better, pallor, ganymede, othello, putative, debride, lifespan, staphyline, opportunism and 6 more...
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Harm, Hurt, Damage or Wound (verb)
Verbs meaning harm, hurt, damage or wound
impair, damnify, prejudice, maleficate, maleficiate, vuln, sauciate, lesion, injure, poison, envenomate, injury
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EAP 90
gossip, Collar, compassionate, insightful, alliances, superiority, versus, discrimination, flaw, broad, commoner, miniature and 32 more...
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Words to learn
omit, in all likelihood, unlikely, utterly, every now and then, once in a while, deceptive, show off, reckon, ever since, after all, consequence and 52 more...
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I
Words beginning with i
incipient, infusion, itinerant, impressionable, inferior, iconoclastic, idolatry, immutable, impair, impassive, impermeable, impervious and 23 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for impair.
bilby "Basic services -- electricity, water, food -- were terribly impaired and the economy, in the process of being privatized by the neocon overseers of the occupation, was simply wrecked."
- Tom Engelhardt, Biking Out of Iraq, tomdispatch.com, 13 August 2009. Aug 14, 2009